Xander Fist Of Legend
by mickelus
Summary: Based on a challenge someone put out, wanting to see a better Xander. Xander finds evidence of Shangri la and goes there...comes back as a bad ass. Only other thing the challenger wanted is that Xander must either end up with Faith or Amy, not sure if I'm gonna manage that part of the challenge...read and find out.
1. Shangri la

The battle with the Master was over, they had won and Buffy was still alive, they all were. Since the Master and all his minions were now so many piles of dust Xander decided to explore their now vacant lair. He found several items of value, mostly normal gems and jewelry but there were also some, most likely, mystical artifacts that he knew Giles would want to examine. As he was about to leave, he glimpsed light coming from a partially hidden alcove and inside he found a book written in some language he did not know and a scroll, grabbing both items he headed back to the surface just as the sun was rising.

He went directly to the library to wait for the others to show up and share what he had found. He was woken a couple hours later by Giles entering the library. He showed him the artifacts; the first thing Giles reached to was the scroll. He unraveled it and examined it for a few moments, "Good Lord! I thought it was just a myth!"

"What is it G-man?" Xander asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Xander I could hug you right now, this is an amazing find! This scroll contains a map and written directions to guide a person to Shangri la. The only thing I can be upset about is the fact that I cannot go. The directions state that the finder of the map, if they be of pure heart, may enter Shangri la. Looks like you're going on a Watcher's Council sponsored trip this summer dear boy."

"Wow Shangri la, and an all-expenses paid vacation? Count me in!"

"Count you in for what?" Buffy asked as she and Willow entered the library.

Xander proceeded to tell them the news. Willow was upset at first that both her friends would be leaving her for the summer, Xander going to Tibet to find Shangri la and Buffy to LA to visit her dad. She was slightly appeased when Xander promised to bring back a lot of books and other souvenirs. "Oh I almost forgot." Xander said as he searched through his backpack, "For my smart and beautiful friends who helped avert an apocalypse. I present to them the spoils of war." He finished producing two gold necklaces he had found in the lair.

"Wow Xander they're beautiful!" The girls replied as they put them on.

"I'm surprised you gave them to us instead of pawning them though. They'd bring you a good bit of money." Said Willow.

"Nah, I couldn't do that. I knew they would never look as good on anyone else. It would be a crime for me not to give them to you."

A few weeks later after school had ended Xander was at the bus station ready to head to LA in order to board a plane bound for Nepal. Giles was there to ensure he had all the information he needed to reach the Councils contacts which would take him as far as they could. Buffy and Willow were there to see him off and to get their last few hugs in until they saw him again Joyce Summers had come along as well, she had quickly become a surrogate mother to him and Willow, and she was as worried about him as she would have been had it been Buffy they were seeing off. They all got in one last hug as the bus driver gave the final boarding call.

_Wow I guess I'm off to Nepal,_ He thought as he turned from the window once he could no longer see his friends, _I just hope it isn't boring._

Buffy had just gotten home from visiting her father over the summer, and as promised she spent the whole day with Willow, talking about what they had done and what the fast approaching school year might bring. That night Joyce invited Giles and Willow over for Buffy's welcome home dinner. They were getting ready to eat when there was a knock at the door Giles, being the closest, answered it and soon reappeared in the dining room with a man who stood about six feet tall, had a muscular build, with wavy dark brown hair, and deeply sun-tanned skin who looked an awful lot like…"Xander!" Willow screamed as a red haired blur tackled the man to the ground it a fierce hug. "Oh my God your finally back, the next time you go somewhere I'm going to, I can't stand being alone in this damn town, I was bored as hell, not that Giles and Mrs. Summers weren't good company, they were, but they had their own things going on and dammit I'm babbling again, well at least that's still the same, fuck, shut-up Rosenberg! Oh yeah I cuss now, apparently I'm scary when I do."

"It's good to see you too Willster. I promise to bring you along on my next adventure, and the cussing…I'd say you pull it off. Do I smell roast?"

"Xander, I see your appetite hasn't changed." Said Joyce as she and Buffy set a fifth place at the table.

"Not when it comes to your cooking Mrs. Summers. Buffy it's good to see you again, how was your summer with your dad?" He asked as he gave the Joyce, then Buffy a quick hug.

"Oh nothing too special, we mostly just hung out. He did the guilty thing where he tries to make up for not always being around by buying me stuff. I'm more interested to hear about Shangri la."

"Well it was pretty awesome," Xander began, "the first thing you learn is that time moves differently there. A week out here is a year in Shangri la. So yes I was in there for the equivalent of twelve years, but if you're in Shangri la you don't age. And Giles aside from that I have to ask that you tell the Council nothing else. The brotherhood of monks made me swear an oath that I would only talk about Shangri la to close friends." He said looking at the watcher.

"Very well I'll only relay what you've told me thus far, but if you remember something else that I can pass on you'll let me know right?" Giles asked hopefully.

"Sure thing G-man. Anyway it is very much a paradise, there are plants and animals that can't be found anywhere else, some that have even gone extinct out here. The monks there are peaceful, but they are also highly trained in all forms of combat, including modern guns. They have their own style of martial art that combines forms from Karate, Muay Tai, Kung Fu, and Jiu Jitsu. The monks trained me to master level in hand to hand combat as well as helping me master several weapon styles such as staff, nine-section whip, and the naginata. On top of that they taught me a lot on demonology and how they've observed The Powers That Be working throughout the history of the world and they even sent me back with some of the rarest books on Earth, well copies of the originals anyway, so I guess those are for you and Giles, Willow. They sent gifts for everyone actually. For Buffy they sent weapons and also gave me permission to teach her what I know, if she wants to learn. For Joyce they told me that the best they could offer her was knowing that the rest of us were okay. So they sent one of these charm necklaces for each of us, so that if any of us are attacked in a way where we can't handle it we will be transported to the living room at 1630 Revello Drive."

"Wow that's amazing. I hope they know how much I appreciate that." Joyce said as they all put on their new necklaces.

"So does that effect apply if there are a group of us doing battle? Cause that would be a bit annoying." Buffy asked.

"No Buffster, they have a monk keeping tabs on our well-being, our auras, by way of these charms it's mainly insurance for when we're alone. However if a group fight is going horribly wrong they can get us all out. Oh and if we ever add more members to our group they will send more." Xander explained.

"That's awesome and once again it's great to have the whole gang back together again. I missed you guys a lot!" Buffy said happy to be back with her mom and the friends that she considered family.

"Ditto!" Xander chimed in.


	2. School Hard

**School Hard**

Xander walked slowly toward Sunnydale High, tonight was parent/teacher conference night and though he knew his parents would not be there, _Why break their perfect non-attendance record?_ He though sullenly before shaking his head to remove his slowly building irritation. It was not like he hated his parents or anything like that, he was just disappointed in them and usually embarrassed by them, _At least they care enough to keep the house taken care of and food in the cupboards BEFORE they drown themselves in alcohol._ He thought again to himself. He sighed as his thoughts moved back to the night ahead, Principal Snyder knew as well as Xander did that Mr. and Mrs. Harris would not be there tonight, but did that stop the little troll of a man from requiring Xander's presence? Hell no! _At least I won't have to mingle and socialize with anyone._ He reasoned. Snyder had put him on refreshment duty with Buffy and Sheila Martini, the only person in Sunnydale High with a worse record than Buffy.

He actually had a pretty good time, even though Sheila had been a no-show, but he and Buffy had handled the refreshment table, after he had saved them from embarrassment by quickly retrieving a bag of sugar from the school kitchen and fixing the lemonade. He had even been able to help Buffy in trying to keep her mom too busy to talk to Principal Snyder, a mission which ultimately failed. Once Buffy saw her mom walk into the office with Snyder the blonde slayer got a little depressed and lost her usually chipper attitude. "Hey Buffster," Xander said with a smile laying his hand gently on Buffy's shoulder, "Why dontcha take a break and hang out with Willow for a while? I can handle the refreshments on my own…there aren't many people left anyway."

"Thanks Xander." Buffy answered with a forced smile. She knew that whatever her mom and the principal were talking about would turn out bad for her. The short, balding man had all but openly said he hated Buffy and had made it his mission to find a reason to have her expelled.

When Joyce came out of Snyder's office a few minute later she was obviously not happy. Xander, Willow, and Buffy had just finished clearing the refreshments table when Joyce came over to collect her daughter. Buffy tried to say something, but her mom stopped her with a raise of her hand, "Not now Buffy. Let's just go home and talk about this later."

Just then, as the principal shut off the lights and the remaining people were headed for the exit, the front window shattered and a large group of vampires burst in. Xander immediately ran for the nearest exit while Giles and Willow escaped with a group of students to the library. Buffy, Joyce, and Principal Snyder barricaded themselves in a classroom along with a few other faculty and parents.

Outside the school Xander was quickly attacked by three vampires. He reacted instantly, ducking the first attack then delivering a hard elbow strike to the next vamp's throat before sweeping his last opponent's legs. He took out one of the weapons the monks had given him, a wooden kunai, and stabbed it in the fallen vamp's chest, effectively narrowing the field. The first vampire had quickly recovered from missing Xander and they were now circling each other. Once again the blood sucker charged and Xander feinted a dodge to his attacker's right side before striking at the opposite side. The vamp was not expecting a fake and soon found Xander's wooden knife sticking out of his heart. Xander turned to confront the third vamp, but saw that Angel had arrived and beaten him to it.

The two of them worked out a quick plan and snuck back into the school where they were confronted by a bleach blond vampire.

"Angelus!?" He asked.

"Spike!" Angel replied.

"I'll be damned!" Exclaimed Spike with a laugh.

The two vampires hugged like friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time, "I taught you to always guard your perimeter." Angel said clicking his tongue, "You should have someone out there."

"I did, I'm surrounded by idiots." Spike said irritated, "So, what's new with you?" He then asked.

"Everything," Angel answered.

"Ave you come up against the slayer yet?" Spike asked.

"Yeah she's cute…not too bright though. I gave her the old puppy dog, tortured soul act…keeps her off my back when I feed." Angel answers with a laugh, Xander glances up from the headlock Angel is holding him in in hopes that they'll fool the other vampires.

"I can't believe people still fall for that Anne Rice routine! What the hell is up with that?"

"I knew you were lying. You…undead…liar guy!" Xander mumbles.

Angel grabs Xander by the collar, offering spike a bite of the teen's neck. Spike leans in toward Xander then suddenly hits Angel with an unexpected left hook. "You think you can fool me!?" He shouts, "You were my mentor man. You were my Yoda!"

"Things change." Angel said standing next to Xander, waiting for Spike and his gang to make the first move.

"Not with us, not demons." Spike said, then addressed his lackeys, "What are you piss-ants waiting for? It's audience participation time!" He said and then proceeded to attack.

Just as the blonde vampire and his cronies attacked, Buffy appeared at the other end of the hall. She took on Spike while Angel and Xander fought the rest. The souled vampire and the teen went through their opponents quickly. The two of them moved to help the slayer, but she stopped them and told them to help evacuated the rest of the people from the school. Angel went to the library where Giles had barricaded himself, the computer teacher Jenny Calendar, and several students and parents.

Xander quickly found the classroom where Mrs. Summers, Principal, and a few faculty members were holed up. He was trying to convince them to open the door and follow him, but the troll Snyder was holding the rescue up by not cooperating. "I'm not going to be taking orders or advice from you Harris…you're almost as bad as Buffy."

Joyce had been sitting in a corner trying to fight off a headache she was getting from hearing Snyder's voice for so long. She finally snapped, cussing the bald man out in ways that made Xander blush and slightly changed his opinion of Buffy's seemingly meek mother. When the door finally opened the principal was silent and Xander was able to lead the group out of the school without any further issues.

Back inside the school Buffy was still fighting with Spike. It had been a lot of back and forth. Both fighters had skill and strength, but neither was able to get the upper hand. That is until Buffy threw Spike into a wall, causing the vamps hand to break through the drywall where he then ripped out a two-by-four stud. He used his improvised weapon to knock the slayer down.

Spike was about to land the finishing blow, by staking Buffy with the sharp wood. When Xander suddenly rushed in, knocking Spike back with a powerful flying roundhouse kick. He sent the vampire reeling backwards where Joyce was waiting and she hit him with the flat side of the blade of a fire axe. Spike let out a frustrated roar and escaped through the window he had used to enter the building.

Xander looked around the room, making sure all the vamps had either been dusted or run away and checking for any possibly injured people from the parent teacher night earlier. Seeing no one he turned back to see Buffy and Joyce having a mother daughter bonding moment. He started to make his way to the door when he heard Buffy call out to him, "Hey Xander!" She shouted, "When are you gonna start teaching me those moves you learned? Cause that kick was awesome!"

Xander and Buffy met up with Willow who had been stuck with Cordelia in a janitor's closet the whole time. After checking with her mom and finding out she was not in as much trouble as she had feared, Buffy suggested the three of them go out for ice cream and they could compare stories of the night's events. The three of them walked away from the crowd of civilians, firefighter, EMTs, and police in front of the school. Xander walked along between his to favorite girls, his arms around their shoulders as the laughed about their messed up lives, _Just another day in Sunnyhell…_ He thought.


	3. Flashback 1

**Flashback #1**

After the events at school with the new vamp Spike and celebrating another victory with Buffy and Willow. Xander got home at around one A.M. and took a relaxing shower before passing out in his bed.

_Dreamscape:_

Stepping off the plane in Nepal, Xander was met by one of the Watchers Council's operatives, who was to be his guide/body guard until he reached the point he had to continue alone. Xian Mao Kang was younger than Xander expected him to be, only a few years older than he. The fact he was a Chinese national was not a surprise, given what part of the world they were in. The man's attitude was also vastly different than Xander expected from someone working for the Council, Kang, as Xander called him, actually joked around, _Okay, I guess having a Council babysitter isn't gonna be too bad after all._ Xander thought, realizing they had probably purposefully assigned someone he would not clash with to make the trip easier for everyone.

The two young men shook hands and went into a nearby café for lunch before they set out on their journey. There was one point where Xander thought Kang was going to have to get rough with someone who was following them, but it turned out to be someone trying to lure "the white guy" into a tourist trap. While the duo travelled they talked a lot, both asking questions of the other and through Kang Xander learned a lot about how the Council really worked and Kang found out what it was like to live day to day on a hellmouth and to know the slayer.

Eventually they got to the point where Xander's instructions told him he had to go alone. Kang and he shook hands with Kang saying he would meet Xander at this spot in three months. With that Xander set off around the corner and up a steep mountain pass. He was bundled up in warm clothes being high in the Himalayas, but as he reached halfway up the pass the air got gradually warmer and when he reached the top he had dressed down to his t-shirt and jeans, which was his final layer.

The young man was greeted at the top of the pass by a shorter man who was dressed much like a street hustler. "Alexander Lavelle Harris, I've been waiting for you. The names Whistler." Said the man, offering Xander his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you, I think. And please, just call me Xander." Replied the teen as he warily shook the offered hand. "Not meaning to be rude or anything, but who are you and why are you here?" Xander asked.

"I'm here because this is where the Powers sent me. I'm hybrid between a pureblood demon and a higher being and the Powers That Be have made me into a Balance Demon of sorts. I was the one who guided Angel onto the path he's on now. Basically I help people onto the best possible path, though there have been times when I've ensured horrible things happened to maintain the balance. I was the one that guided the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Whistler answered.

"So are you here to tell me what my path is?" Xander asked, now having even more questions.

"No, you are already on the correct path. I'm here to make sure you get to Shangri la safely. It was a bit unexpected that you found the scroll, but it changed a few things for the better, keeping me from having to intervene in the future." Whistler continued to speak as they walked and when they were outside the gateway to Shangri la, the mystical paradise, he turned to Xander. "There is one thing I can tell you about the future, one piece of advice. Things will get bad for the slayer, I can't say what or how exactly, but you should understand when the time comes…" The demon whispered his message for Xander's ears alone.

Xander had a look of confusion on his face as Whistler vanished in front of him. A few moments later a young woman came to greet him and lead him to the elders, who appeared to be not much older than he. The council asked him why he was there and he told them everything, feeling compelled to leave nothing out of his explanation. The elders spoke quietly to one another before turning back to Xander. "So you wish to learn all that you can for both the sake of knowledge and to help your friends against the dark forces?" Asked the head of the council.

Xander nodded, "Yes ma'am, but mostly for the sake of helping my friends."

"I sense much lover and compassion in you Xander Harris." She said, "As well as the desire to fight for the good of humanity. We will help you as much as we can and give you tools to help in the war. I won't lie, you're gonna be tired and in pain at first, but soon your body will catch up to what we are teaching you. Here in Shangri la we are warriors as well as scholars, we have members here from every martial discipline in the world and through training we combine and enhance all into one form. We will also teach you all that we can about demons and witches as well as the other beasts that fall into neither good nor evil."

"How am I supposed to do all that in just three months?" Xander asked, excited about what he was being told, but not wanting his friends to worry about him either.

"Time works differently here, as part of the natural magic of this place. Three months on the outside is the same as twelve years in here." Answered one of the men of the council.

"Wow," Xander replied, truly surprised by the answer he received, "Well then all I have to say is, let's get started." He added with a smile, causing the others to smile with his infectious personality.


	4. Welcome To The Halloween-trix

**Welcome To The Halloween-Trix**

Xander had most of the items he needed for his costume this Halloween. Willow, Buffy, and he had been volunteered by Principal Snyder to chaperone groups of kids trick-or-treating. While browsing through the aisles of Sunnydale's newest costume shop he saw Willow and Buffy, trying to find costumes of their own. He was about to walk up to them when he noticed just how close they were and watching the emotions that played out on each girl's face when the other was looking away. Xander stood back and watched them for a few minutes, _They are becoming a lot closer than "just friends". I wonder if they even see it themselves?_ He thought.

Stepping into another aisle he found what he was looking for, a pair of costume sunglasses. He picked them up to confirm and was delighted to find that although the lenses appeared dark, a person could see through them clearly, perfect for wearing at night. "Hey Xander! Whatcha got there?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, hey Buff, Willster. Just picking up the last piece for my costume."

"What are you going as?" Willow asked curiously.

"That my friend is a surprise and you will just have to wait and see." Xander replied with a light chuckle along with his characteristic smirk.

"Alright, so are we still planning to meet up at The Bronze after we drop off our trick-or-treaters?" Buffy asked.

"Sounds good to me." Xander said, "It'll be nice to relax for a night without having to worry about any demonic big bads for once." He added while their red haired friend nodded her agreement. "Well, anyway, I guess I should go home and get ready. Are we meeting at your house, Buffy, or at the school?"

The blonde girl turned to her best girlfriend, "I was thinking meet at my house then we all head to the school. Sound good Will?"

"I'm not against that idea. In fact I like it…the idea that is." Willow answered in her normal, babbly, shy way.

On the way out of the story Xander felt someone bounce off of the door he had just opened. He looked down to see Willow's good friend, Amy Madison, knocked on her ass by Xander and the door _And a cute ass it is too_, Xander thought, then shook off his musings and leaned down to help the slightly stunned girl back to her feet. "Jesus, Amy! I'm sorry about that, I didn't see you there." He said as he pulled her off the ground before reaching down to retrieve her dropped backpack. "Are you okay?" He then asked.

"It's alright Xander, and no, I'm not hurt." Replied the tall, dirty blonde girl. "You're actually the person I was looking for."

"I am? Well that's a refreshing change, I'm usually the one all the pretty girls are hiding from."

Amy smiled at Xander's sarcasm, "Yeah, anyway, I was wondering if you had a date to next week's dance…you the one where the girls are supposed to ask?" She asked trying hard to hold back her blush, while not as shy as Willow she was still used to the same type of rejected and was a natural introvert.

"Nope, no one has yet asked for the priveledge of having Alexander Harris be their escort to that dance." Was the ever smirking boy's reply.

"Well…um…I was just thinking that…and feel free to say no, but I was wondering if you might want to go with me?" She managed to stumble out the nervous request.

Xander, even though he had been able to see where the conversation was headed, was still stunned by the invitation and was rendered momentarily speechless. Amy took her friend's silence as rejection and turned quickly to hide her tears as began to well up, "N-nevermind, it was a dumb idea." She stuttered her voice shaky as she began to walk away.

Xander quickly recovered and reached out to grab Amy's arm before she disappeared. "I'm sorry about the stunnedness Amy. No, it's not a dumb idea." He said as she turned her back around to face him, brushing a couple errant tears from her cheek with his thumb. "I would be more than happy to go with you." Xander said sincerely.

The once devastated girl broke into a brilliant smile, really?" She asked excitedly to which Xander nodded, "Wow." Amy added as she quickly hugged him.

"By the way," Xander suddenly said, "Not meaning to suddenly change the subject, but where did you go off to after that thing with your mom? I saw you around school a few times and have been meaning to ask you, but wasn't sure if you wanted to deal with any of us." He asked.

"Well, first off, I haven't been avoiding you guys, honest, I've just been really busy. After I went to my dad, I took the rest of the year off. He and I moved back here, along with his new girlfriend, and I've been working extra-hard to catch up on what I missed. And just FYI my dad's new girlfriend…ten times nicer than my mom."

"That's great! I'm glad that things are working out for you. And not to continue on with a sore subject, but did you figure anything out about what happened to your mom?"

"Actually yeah, my dad's girlfriend, Danielle Maclay, she's very knowledgeable in the ways of Wicca, and she did a spell in that room that lead us to where my mom ended up. When Buffy flipped that metal panel down it bounced the spell back at my mom and she ended up being trapped in the trophy she won for the school. So if you feel like that statue's eyes are following you, they are. Danielle said she was harmless there and in her opinion it's a fitting punishment for what she did, mom's not feeling any pain, or any kind of torture from it, so it's all okay, she's just trapped."

"Wow! Um…I should probably tell Giles, if that's okay with you anyway, he's been trying to figure out what happened that night ever since." Xander said and Amy nodded her consent. "Hey, Amy, after the trick-or-treating chaperone thing, Buffy, Willow, and I were gonna meet and hang out at The Bronze. Would you like to join us? I know Willow would love a chance to hang out with you again, and if I remember right you got along well with Buffy too." He offered.

"I'd like that." Amy said with a smile, "I'll meet up with you guys when I drop my group off at the school." She added, happy to be included and also happy to know she still had her friends.

Neo felt the typical disorientation associated with hacking into The Matrix. His disorientation was soon replaced with confusion though, when he took notice of his surroundings and had to dodge a pack of strange creatures charging past him. He tried to use his ability to see the code that built The Matrix to see if he could repair whatever was wrong with the programming in order to continue his mission. The man was confused further when he could not access the lines of code that should have been everywhere, although, he thought he heard a voice trying to reach him, but could not quite hear what was being said. Neo was distracted from his concentration when he was approached by a teenager dressed as Wonder Woman, with a scantily clad nurse clinging tightly to her and looking around scared.

Willow saw Xander in his Neo costume and was able to convince Diana, the Amazonian princess, who now had partial control of her body, that the man they saw was a friend. "Xander! Er…I mean Neo. First of all, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Neo's first instinct was to ignore the two women as crazy, but something within him made him instinctively trust the duo. "No I do not."

"Well, this is gonna sound strange, but considering the world you come from and what you've been through, maybe not so unbelieveable." A slight smirk made its way to her lips, "What if I were to tell you that all the fairy tales you were told had their basis in reality? That all the stories your parents told you to make you behave, vampires, werewolves, demons, zombies, they're all real as is magic, real magic."

Neo stared at the strange girl for a moment, "Are you high?" He finally asked seriously.

Willow/Diana sighed exasperatedly, "Hera give me strength." She mumbled, "Okay, what if I can prove that you a neither dreaming nor within The Matrix, and then prove that I'm not crazy?" Neo just nodded, "Alright, if you were dreaming or inside The Matrix you'd be able to do amazing things not possible for a regular human. Correct?"

"I see what you're getting at, but what if I'm neither dreaming, nor in The Matrix, but can still do these things?" He asked as he began to understand the young woman.

_Holy Hera! Is he trying to be difficult?_ Diana asked.

_I don't know. That may actually be a little bit of Xander showing through._ Willow replied.

"We don't have time for this so I'll just tell you what's happening whether you believe me or not doesn't matter, what matters is that I need your help." Willow said forcefully, then went on to explain that it was Halloween and everyone had transformed to truly become what they had dressed as.

"Well, I can't say I believe you, but something inside me makes me believe I can trust you, and there is clearly something bad happening right now. So I will help you…but what should I call you?"

"Right now I'll answer to either Willow or Diana, but I am usually just Willow and this is Buffy. Yes that is her real name, just Buffy. Follow me, we need to check on someone first, plus we can work on a plan when we get there." Willow/Diana lead the way quickly back to Buffy's house, luckily for Buffy and Willow in their skimpy costumes late October in Sunnydale was not very cold.

They got inside the house safely to find Joyce and Cordelia already hiding inside the walls. Once safe from immediate danger Buffy visibly relaxed, although she did not loosen her grip on her red, white, and blue clad companion. "Cordelia? Is that really you?" Willow asked, seeing the girl who had teased her every day since grade school dressed in a baggy orange turtle neck sweater, a short, red, pleated skirt, knee-high orange socks, and sensible red shoes, topped off with a pair of fake "nerdy" glasses.

"She keeps telling me her name is Velma." Joyce interrupted, "And just what the hell are you wearing Buffy?!" She shouted angrily when she finally got a good look at her daughter.

Diana was getting tired of explanations and delays, so she took temporary control from Willow, "We don't have time for that right now ma'am! We need to figure out what to do to fix all of this, then we can discuss what happened and any other issues in detail."

"I agree," Said Neo, "We have to fix this so I can get on with my mission. So, what do we know?"

"Well," Said Cordelia/Velma, "If what I've observed is true, then all those little monsters out there are actually children who were out trick-or-treating, when something happen that caused almost everyone to transform into their costumes. Which brings up a question. Are you any different than you were before Mrs. Summers?"

Willow/Diana answered, "No, she appears to be unaffected…where did you purchase your costume?" She asked the Summers matriarch who was dressed in a white lab coat over surgical scrubs.

"Just from a shop in the mall. I actually bought the coat from one and had to go to another for the scrubs." Joyce answered.

"Hmmm…and Xander already had everything for his costume…except for the sunglasses which he bought at the same place as Buffy and me. That must be the source, it's a new shop…Ethan's, or something like that. Xander…er…Neo, you take…um…Velma with you, head down Main Street. When you get to the store called Ethan's Costumes go in cautiously, see what you guys can find there. I'm gonna stay nearby and do what I can to help, Joyce, you and Buffy should stay inside."

Neo nodded and motioned for the nerdy looking girl to follow him. They made their way to the shop Wonder Woman had described to them and Neo quietly forced open the lock, he made his way to the cheap security system access panel and easily hacked it to stop any alarms from going off. He started looking around the room, but received a tap on his shoulder from Velma/Cordelia, "I doubt we'll find anything out here, we should check the back rooms first." She offered.

"Good point," He agreed, "It's the logical place to start."

In the back room the found an altar with herbs, incense, and a bust of the god Janus. There was the sound of feet shuffling behind them followed by a brief struggle as Neo fought with the shop owner Ethan. After their short lived fight he was able to "persuade" Ethan to tell them what happened and then how to break the curse. Cordelia/Velma smashed the bust with a mop handle and Ethan escaped while the costumed teen became themselves once again.

Down in the sewers near the shop Amy came to herself and found she was surrounded by unconscious forms of some of Sunnydale's actual demon population. She was about to climb up an access ladder to the surface when a group of vampires came around the corner. She could sense the memories brought about by transforming into her costume of Master Splinter, but she decided it would be better to rely on her magic instead of hoping she knew the martial arts forms she seemed to suddenly recall. She held her palm out at shoulder level toward the approaching vamps, "Solis radius!" She yelled and a beam of sunlight shot out of her hand, dusting the group.

Amy climbed the ladder, but found when she reached the top that the spell had not left her with enough strength to move the man hole cover. Lucky for her, Xander and Cordelia had just been leaving the shop when they heard her hollering the spell and saw the flash of light. Recognizing their classmate's voice the duo removed the heavy steel disc to investigate, and found the wore out Amy barely clinging to the ladder.

Cordelia and Xander worked together to pull the costumed witch up to the surface. They supported the tall blonde between them as they made their way back to Buffy's house, "Guess it's another typical day in Sunnyhell, huh? Dammit now I'm gonna smell like sewer!" The head cheerleader complained.

""You mean that's not how you normally smell?" Xander teased, "I'm just glad everything worked out so well." He added.

"Quit arguing guys…too tired to deal with it." Amy mumbled, the spell had taken more out of her than she thought it would.

"Alright let's get her to Buffy's so we can find her a place to rest." Xander said to Cordelia and for once neither argued.


End file.
